About

Atlanta Streets Alive opens streets for people by temporarily closing them to cars — for 4 hours — to create a whole new healthy, sustainable and vibrant city street experience.

Atlanta Streets Alive is an event inspired by open streets projects all over the world.

The idea originated in Bogotá, Columbia, where neighborhood activists opened the streets for people to bike, skate, or use any human powered means of transportation, while temporarily closing them to motor vehicles. In Bogotá today, 70 miles of streets are opened to the public from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Sunday. Amazingly, over 800,000 people – young and old, on foot, bike, and every imaginable kind of wheeled device – take part each week!

Key Organizers & Partners

Atlanta Streets Alive is organized by the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition. In 2010 the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition convened two dozen community leaders to form a Steering Committee and help make Atlanta Streets Alive an event the city will never forget.

Vision

The vision of Atlanta Streets Alive is to encourage Atlanta to develop living streets — streets that appeal to pedestrians, bikers, businesses and neighbors. Streets are publicly owned assets but on most days are used mainly by cars. On this day, people can regain ownership of the streets they pay taxes to build and maintain — and transform them into fun, healthy, living streets for all to enjoy.

Objectives

Encourage people to experience our streets by foot or by bicycle

Celebrate neighborhoods, which changes and expand year to year

Expose attendees to fun outdoor activities

To help build a happier, healthier and more sustainable Atlanta

Values

EVERYONE IS INVITED Everyone—and we mean everyone—from the young to the old and wise, from ITP to OTP, from all shapes and sizes and from all levels of physical fitness. Atlanta Streets Alive aims to promote a healthy lifestyle and encourage the masses to get out and walk, bike, skate or dance for a few hours. And we believe the streets are the common connection between all citizens, and a public space where we can celebrate our health and our city.

CREATE A SENSE OF WONDER Activities along the route invite those walking by to try new things, from hopscotch to hula-hooping to roller hockey. It’s a chance to engage in new experiences or return to those we haven’t made time for since our early youth.

CONNECT NEIGHBORS + LOCAL BUSINESSES = ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT By not having any outside vendors, this event celebrates local businesses and connects them more closely with surrounding neighborhood citizens. We work closely with neighborhood associations, business associations and individual businesses along each route to make sure they have time to make the most out of a car-free day. This is also a great way for Atlanta residents to discover new businesses along the route.

HUMAN-POWERED AMUSEMENT All activities are human-powered. In a world filled with video-games, augmented reality and unlimited digital screens, it’s important to return to the simple life every now and then. Atlanta Streets Alive celebrates old-fashioned entertainment, such as biking, roller blading, skateboarding, dancing and even finger-painting. If you can do it in the street (off the grid) you can do it.

PARTICIPATE IN BETTER HEALTH This event is certainly not all about biking. Attendees are encouraged to participate in healthy activities of all kinds, from highly intense (we’ve had marathons during Atlanta Streets Alive) to pure fun (hula-hooping contests, poems on demand) and educational (where attendees can learn more about the Atlanta BeltLine).

BUILD MOMENTUM FOR A HEALTHY CHANGE Help make Atlanta a happier, healthier and more sustainable city by committing to the Atlanta Streets Alive pledge. All you have to do is pledge to walk, bike, or roller-blade three times a week. And when you’ve gotten comfortable with that, try out a new activity such as boot camp, kickboxing, yoga, zumba, road cycling, swimming and more.

Organizer

Sponsors

Contact

Atlanta Streets Alive — where the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition closes the streets to cars and open them to people. Bring your bicycle or just your feet, and get ready to explore your community streets in a safer, healthier, more livable way.

To become a sponsor of Atlanta Streets Alive, email events or call 404.881.1112